


Work Relationships

by LacePendragon



Category: RWBY
Genre: Anxiety, Could Read As Any Point During V7, Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, Friendship, M/M, Post V7C5 But Not Real Spoilers, Work Relationships Are Hard, suggestive content at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:41:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21626995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LacePendragon/pseuds/LacePendragon
Summary: On date night with Marrow, Clover gets called by General Ironwood, who wants to talk to him. Clover decides to talk to him, before he goes home to Marrow, and discovers that the General wants his advice... on relationships.Oh boy.
Relationships: James Ironwood & Clover Ebi, Marrow Amin/Clover Ebi, Qrow Branwen/James Ironwood
Comments: 23
Kudos: 152





	Work Relationships

**Author's Note:**

> This was an anon in my inbox. This wasn't technically a request, but I really, really fell in love with this concept, which was:
> 
> _"Okay but James going to Clover after wishbone gets together and being like ".... how do you ask out someone you have a working relationship with? Just wondering, no reason I'm asking...."_
> 
> I love Ironqrow. I love Wishbone. And this is _such a cute concept_. I just had to write it.
> 
> So, Wishbone is established, Ironqrow is not. Enjoy!

Clover stretched his arms over his head and yawned. It was late, and he wanted to get back to his place, where Marrow was, so they could have a late dinner together and watch whatever horror movie Marrow had picked out that he would spend the whole time cowering from (and hiding behind Clover, which was a lovely bonus). However, first, General Ironwood had wanted to talk to him. He’d stressed that it was non-urgent, that it could wait until another day, but Clover wasn’t one to leave something unfinished if he had the means to finish it.

His Scroll buzzed and Clover pulled it from his pocket as he made the walk to General Ironwood’s office. It was a text message from Marrow, and a picture. He was pouting at the camera, both hands pulled up under his chin to look like paws. His big, puppy dog eyes stared up at Clover. Also, he was wearing Clover’s Atlas Academy Track & Field hoodie, which was two sizes too big and hung over his hands.

_Damn._

He groaned, quiet, and rubbed his face with one hand. Okay, yeah, he was late. He had told Marrow he was going to be late, but he was _really late_. He hated breaking his word.

He texted Marrow back with, ‘Not long now. Just need to talk to the General.’

A moment later, Marrow’s reply popped up. ‘That could talk hoooouuurs :( :( :(’

Clover sighed and stepped into the elevator. He texted, ‘I won’t let it. I promise. I’ll bring food. Mistrali spiced rice okay?’

He was met with a string of heart emojis. Clover chuckled and sent one back, his ears warm.

He and Marrow hadn’t been together long - three months, next week - but it was easily the best relationship of Clover’s life. Marrow was kind, attentive, always eager to spend time with him, but had gotten much better about setting boundaries since they started dating. Plus, he encouraged Clover’s drier humour, and Clover found himself enjoying the world with new eyes, next to Marrow.

He could do without Harriet’s constant teasing, though, but at least he’d gotten her to lay off some of what she’d been saying to Marrow. She was a good colleague, and great to have at your side, but her harsh words, mostly meant as teasing, toward Marrow had done some rather serious damage to Marrow’s self confidence, at the start of their relationship.

And then Marrow had decided to steal that hoodie and start, occasionally, sending pictures of him wearing it and _not much else_ to Clover at random times of day. After the first time Qrow had seen the smaller, preview image on his lock screen, one day, Clover had turned off previews for his texts. Now, only Marrow’s name came up.

Didn’t stop Qrow from asking if he “wanted to be alone with his Scroll” the first time Marrow texted anytime he and Qrow were on a mission.

The elevator opened and Clover pocketed his Scroll. He stepped out and crossed the solarium to General Ironwood’s office, the door of which was wide open.

Still, he paused at the entrance to the office and cleared his throat. “Sir?”

The General was behind his desk. He looked up when Clover spoke and blinked a few times. Clover suspected he’d been distracted by something – he’d been distracted by _something_ for the last few weeks.

“Ah, yes, Clover, come in, come in.” The General set his Scroll aside and cleared his throat. His ears were pink. Clover tried not to focus on that. It was best to let the General work through his embarrassment on his own. “Sorry. I forgot you were coming.”

“That’s all right,” said Clover. He stepped into the office and shut the door, before crossing the office to the General’s desk. He stood there, arms behind his back, and waited for the General to speak.

“Right, I…” General Ironwood fidgeted with his sleeves, then his tie, then his collar. Nerves. Clover wondered what was causing them. It wasn’t really his business, but it seemed the General _wanted_ it to be his business. He could listen. He always had.

“Sir, if I may, you seem nervous. Perhaps talking about it would help?” asked Clover.

General Ironwood sighed and stood up. He clasped his hands behind his back and walked to the window, where he stared out at Atlas. Clover joined him, standing a respectful distance to the side.

“How is your relationship with Marrow?” asked General Ironwood.

Clover blinked. Of all the things he’d expected to hear, it wasn’t that. “Fine, sir, thank you for asking.”

“Good, good,” said General Ironwood. He cast a glance, sideways, to Clover, and frowned, though it was slight. “Am I keeping you from him?” he asked.

_Yes._ “Only a bit,” said Clover. “But I would like to get back to him soon. Once we have talked.” He made sure to add the last part, just so General Ironwood didn’t think he could use that as an excuse to push Clover away. He had a tendency to do that, if he thought he could get away with it.

Luckily, Clover had experience in the matter.

“Yes, well,” General Ironwood cleared his throat, “I actually wanted to ask you about that.”

Clover waited.

“Your relationship,” he said.

Clover waited. He knew this would take a minute to get out. General Ironwood was terrible at speaking if it was about personal matters. Sometimes it took him three or four tries to begin to speak.

Besides, he had nothing to worry about. His relationship with Marrow was within the rules, _and_ they were hardly the only team with fraternization. If anything, their teamwork had gotten better since they started dating, especially since Marrow was receiving the affirmation and praise he needed to thrive and have confidence in himself, rather than seeking it out on the clock.

It made him a better fighter, a better teammate, and more confident when taking on the friendly barbs the others threw at him.

Harriet teased Marrow mercilessly about his “praise kink”, which Marrow and Clover both denied he had (Marrow in that adorable, stuttering way he did, and Clover with the ease of a practiced liar), while in private, Clover indulged it for everything it was worth.

Marrow couldn’t blush visibly. But Clover loved seeing how hot he could make Marrow’s face before he leaned in to kiss it.

He cleared his throat, aware of the burning in his ears as he thought of Marrow. General Ironwood was watching him with a raised eyebrow and a little smile, so Clover knew he wasn’t in trouble.

“You seemed to be lost in thought,” said the General. “So I thought I would give you a moment.”

Clover’s face flushed. He shook it off with thoughts that were not at all appealing (Vine covered in bees; Vine _naked_ and covered in bees; Vine _naked_ , covered in bees, and holding a rotten squash) until his face cooled and he took a deep breath to centre himself. This was about the General, not his lovesick heart.

“Thank you,” said Clover. “Now, about you.”

General Ironwood sighed. He stared out the window, and Clover stared with him. At the lights, at the moving ships, at all the pieces that made up _Atlas._ It was a beautiful kingdom. And he loved it dearly.

“How did you approach it?” asked General Ironwood. Clover blinked and looked at the General, furrowing his brow. “Asking out Marrow, I mean. The two of you are colleagues. You have a working relationship. I would assume it would be… difficult.” There was a weight to his words, a hesitation, that had Clover raising his eyebrows at the General.

“It was, to some extent,” said Clover. He looked back out at the city, but he was focused on his thoughts, his memories, rather than the outside world. “What hindered us most, I feel, was the short timeline of our friendship. We’re good at what we do, General, but we’re not friends outside of work.” He frowned. It was something he, personally, disagreed with, just as he disagreed with Penny’s orders not to make friends. He liked the Ace-Ops just fine. He wished more than just Marrow had agreed when he’d first suggested getting together outside of work.

Then again, would they have gotten together as quickly, or at all, if not for spending all that time alone, together? Maybe it was for the best.

But now he was trying to get the rest of them to hang out. So far, Vine had eaten three lunches with them. He said it was ‘lovely, and a nice break from solitude’. So, Clover was counting it a win.

“Hopefully, that’s starting to change,” murmured Clover, mostly to himself. He cleared his throat. “Beyond that, I’m not one to hide my emotions, and when I realized how I felt about Marrow I simply… asked him out.”

General Ironwood frowned. “Didn’t you worry about how it would change your relationship? How it would affect your team? You’re technically higher ranked than him. Did that bother you?” His words were faster than usual. If Clover didn’t know the General, he’d think the man was attacking him. But it wasn’t in his nature. If anything, the tightness in his voice betrayed more about himself than Clover.

“I did,” said Clover. He turned and folded his arms, loose, and leaned sideways against the window. It was cool against his bare shoulder. “I spent a lot of time worrying about it, in fact.”

“And?” prompted the General. There was a desperation in his eyes that clicked the last piece into place for Clover.

_Ah._

“I decided I couldn’t do anything about it, without him,” said Clover. “If I just thought about it all the time, I’d never get anywhere. So I took a chance and I asked him out. We’ve established boundaries together, and I’ve made it clear that I would never give him orders off the battlefield.” He smiled at the General. “It’s worked well, so far.”

“Huh,” said General Ironwood, which was weird for him to say, so Clover assumed he couldn’t think of anything else. He took the gap as an opportunity.

“General, may I ask _why_ you’re so invested in my relationship, all of a sudden?” asked Clover. He raised an eyebrow. It was a good opening, one that would allow him his next question.

“I… I-I like to keep track of the well-being of those closest to me,” said General Ironwood. His ears were red.

“Uh-huh,” said Clover. He sighed and stepped off the window, holding out a hand, palm up, as an offering of peace. “General, is this about Qrow?”

General Ironwood turned redder. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Clover rolled his eyes before he could stop himself. He wasn’t going to get in trouble. “For a living lie detector, you suck at lying.” He said it bluntly, because it was the best way to say it. “Your… feelings for Qrow are fairly obvious, sir.” He added, because the General looked very scared all of a sudden, “To me. But I have a knack for noticing affection.”

“Do you now?” asked General Ironwood. Clover knew it wouldn’t set off his semblance, because he was telling the truth. He had a great eye for noticing emotions and affections. Just so long as those affections weren’t directed at _him._ Marrow could have stared after him for years and Clover would have never noticed. In fact, he hadn’t even known when he’d confessed. He’d only wanted to be honest. To see where it could lead. To hope.

“I do,” said Clover, lifting himself up to stand at full height. “And, frankly, sir, I think you and Qrow would be good together. You balance each other out.”

General Ironwood grimaced. “I don’t even know if he cares for me—” He stopped short, turning red again, and cursed. “You really know how to make someone talk, don’t you?” He eyed Clover with more than a taste of annoyance.

Clover grinned and gave a little salute. “It’s one of my best qualities.”

The General rolled his eyes at Clover, before he spoke again. “It’s also not at all scientific.”

“So?” asked Clover. He shrugged. “Neither is love.”

General Ironwood gave him an amused look. “An expert now, are we?”

Clover flushed. He cleared his throat. His Scroll buzzed and he winced. Marrow. Yeah, he was going to be spending the whole weekend making this up to him.

Oh well, at least it would be fun.

“General,” said Clover. He reached out and put a hand on the General’s shoulder. “You called me here to ask my advice, didn’t you?”

The General sighed. “Yes,” he said. “I did.”

Clover smiled, easy and casual. “Then, please, take it. I think you should tell him. Your working relationship will survive. If anything, it might improve. It did for me.” He shrugged. “I understand being scared of change. But I really believe it will go well.”

“And if it doesn’t?” asked General Ironwood. “Then what?”

“Salvage your friendship and go from there,” said Clover. “He’s a good man. He won’t be cruel to you.”

Something changed in the General’s eyes. He sighed and looked away from Clover. “No, he wouldn’t.” He looked back and Clover. “Thank you, Clover. That helps a lot.”

Clover grinned. “Just promise me one thing, sir?”

“What’s that?” asked the General, raising an eyebrow.

“When this works out,” he didn’t bother with ‘if’. He’d heard the way Qrow talked about the General on his supply runs, “Marrow and I get your first double date. I want to see how delightfully awkward you are off-duty.”

The General chuckled and ducked his head. “Of course, Clover. I would be honoured.” He cleared his throat. “I’m going to call Qrow. I suspect you have somewhere to be?”

“I do,” said Clover.

The General nodded. “Dismissed,” he said. “Have a good night, Clover.”

“You too, sir.” He paused, then added, “And sir? Don’t tell him over a call. Go talk to him in person.”

“I will,” said the General. He nodded for the door. “Now, go.”

Clover headed out of the room. He paused at the door to shout, “I want to hear what happens on Monday!” before heading out.

Halfway down the hall, he pulled out his Scroll and swiped open his messages to Marrow’s earlier text.

_Oh._

Marrow was sprawled on his back in Clover’s bed. He wore the hoodie and _nothing else_ and it was rucked up high enough to show the dips of his hips and the _ahem_ hand around himself, further down. His other arm was thrown across his forehead, cheeks flushed, and pupils blown wide. He stared at the camera, his lower lip caught between his teeth.

_Fuck._

Clover hurried to the elevator, vowing to grab the rice as fast as he could. Yes, he had a lot to make up for, being so late to date night, but oh, he was _so_ looking forward to making it up to him. Starting in about… twenty minutes.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are greatly appreciated and help me through the day. Thank you for reading! <3


End file.
